Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Jonathan Duhamel Wins 2010 WSOP Main Event Championship

By PaulyLas Vegas, NV

It's official. Say hello to our new champion, Jonathan Duhamel. The French-Canadian pro becomes the next big star in the poker universe. He's currently the biggest swinging dick in Las Vegas. As MeanGene put it best, Duhamel will be making more this year than Canada's best hockey player Sidney Crosby.

Duhamel held the chip lead going into the November Nine and was the favorite to win by the bookies. Despite being a darling to the oddsmakers, Duhamel was not the favorite among the public. Many fans cast him as the villain. Maybe it was the bad beat that he issued to Matt Affleck that brought the young gun to utter tears? Or maybe it was the fact that he wasn't American that a dark cloud of gloom was cast over his head? In reality, he's a nicer guy than he's been portrayed. Hopefully we'll get to see Duhamel's good side over the next twelve months as he becomes poker's next ambassador.

Duhamel faded a field of 7,319 players to advance to the November Nine. That's a remarkable feat in itself, but winning the November Nine is even harder than it sounds. Duhamel survived the four-month layoff, the build up, hype, and the pomp and circumstance behind the November Nine production (including yet another delay before the heads-up was played out).

Duhamel now joins an elite group of men who have won the most prestigious tournament in poker. The WSOP Main event champions are in an elite group that many aspire to be in, yet very few actually accomplish.

As always thanks for the most entertaining coverage on the interwebs. Duhamel is all over the Canadian news today, I mean all over. People keep calling me to talk about it like I know him or something. Projected Canadian poker boom in 3, 2, 1...